How do I find my unemployment insurance rate in NYS?
I'm trying to figure out what my weekly unemployment benefit amount will be but I can't find anywhere on the NYS Department of Labor website that shows how they calculate it. I know it's based on your wages but I don't understand the formula. My last job paid $52,000 annually and I worked there for 2 years. Does anyone know how to find out what my unemployment insurance rate would be before I file my claim?
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Kristian Bishop
The NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest quarter of earnings in your base period. It's roughly 50% of your average weekly wage up to the maximum weekly benefit amount which is $504 for 2025. You can find this info in your online account under benefit rate calculator once you start your claim.
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Eva St. Cyr
•Thanks! So if I made $13k in my highest quarter that would be about $250 per week? Do I need to file first to see the exact amount?
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Kaitlyn Otto
yeah they don't really make it easy to find this stuff... had to dig around forever when i was looking into filing
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Axel Far
The formula is: take your highest quarter wages, divide by 26, then take 50% of that amount. But there's also a minimum and maximum. You can call NYS Department of Labor at their claims center but good luck getting through - I was on hold for 3 hours last week just to ask about my job search requirements.
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Jasmine Hernandez
•I had the same problem trying to reach someone at NYS Department of Labor. Actually found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to an agent faster. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Used it when I needed to check on my adjudication status and got connected within 20 minutes instead of hours.
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Luis Johnson
Wait I'm confused - is the unemployment insurance rate the same as the weekly benefit amount? I thought insurance rate was what employers pay, not what we receive?? This whole system is so confusing and the NYS Department of Labor website doesn't explain anything clearly!!
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Kristian Bishop
•You're right to be confused - people use different terms. Your 'weekly benefit rate' is what you'll receive. The 'unemployment insurance rate' technically refers to what employers pay into the system, but most people just mean their weekly benefit amount when they ask about rates.
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Ellie Kim
I remember when I first filed in 2023, I was making about the same as you and my weekly benefit was around $275. But every situation is different depending on your work history and when you worked. The NYS Department of Labor looks at a specific base period - usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you file.
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Emma Davis
Just went through this process myself last month! Based on your $52k salary, you're probably looking at somewhere between $250-300 per week, but it really depends on how your wages were distributed across quarters. The NYS DOL uses your "base period" which is the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you file. So if you file now, they'd look at Q1 2024 through Q4 2024. One thing that helped me was logging into the NYS DOL website and starting the application process - you can see your wage history and get an estimate before you actually submit the claim. Just don't hit "submit" until you're ready to officially file!
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Charlotte Jones
•That's really helpful advice about starting the application to see the estimate! I didn't know you could do that without actually submitting. Quick question - when you say Q1 2024 through Q4 2024, does that mean they use your most recent full quarters, or do they skip the most recent one? I want to make sure I understand the timing before I start looking at my wage history.
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